Indians punish pitcher Mike Clevinger for breaking team protocol

Mike Clevinger (Arturo Pardavilla III, Wikimedia Commons)

The Cleveland Indians organization are taking coronavirus seriously. On Tuesday, the Indians placed starting pitcher Mike Clevinger of Jacksonville, Florida on the restricted list as it was determined that Clevinger broke team protocols and went out in Chicago on the weekend. According to Simon Sharkley-Gotlieb of The Score, Clevinger is the second Indians player to break team protocol and be placed on the restricted list. The Indians also sent starting pitcher Zach Plesac of Crown Point, Indiana home as well.

The Indians organization needs to be praised for punishing Clevinger and Plesac. One must remember these pitchers are very important in the Cleveland starting rotation (lead the American League with a 2.04 earned run average), and the Indians will struggle in the pitching department in their absence. However, Indians management has put the health and safety of the current Indians players and staff at top priority.

To make matters worse, Clevinger had defended Plesac’s actions in a team meeting according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. After the Indians realized Clevinger’s actions, they disciplined him as well. According to Mark Townsend of Yahoo! Sports, current Indians players do not believe Clevinger and Plesac are trustworthy.

One must remember that Cleveland manager Terry Francona has been dealing with a gastrointestinal ailment over the last year, and fellow starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco had leukemia a year ago. It is too early to tell if Francona and Carrasco are more susceptible than others to coronavirus based on their prior health ailments.

Clevinger was supposed to start on Tuesday night. He did not, and the Indians lost 7-1 to the Chicago Cubs. Plesac meanwhile was supposed to start against the Detroit Tigers this weekend. In 2020, Clevinger and Plesac each have a record of one win and one loss, with an earned run average of 3.24 and 1.29 respectively.

The Indians are at 10 wins and nine losses. They are in a third place tie with the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central and two games back of the division-leading Minnesota Twins.

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